Mount Zion and Its Cornerstone

Psalm 48:1-14; 1 Peter 2:1-10 (texts)

May 17, 2015 (Pasig Covenant Reformed Church and Trinity Covenant Reformed Church)

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Congregation of Christ: When we were members of an evangelical church in Manila, we sang in the church choir. One of the most beautiful songs that I recall singing was “Let Mount Zion Rejoice!” It was a beautiful, almost literal choral arrangement of Psalm 48. However, even though I heard the word “Zion” in the sermons and songs on Sunday services, I never really inquired and learned what it means. “Zion” is just one of those concepts that’s part of church language.

Our text today, Psalm 48, is about the God who established and defended Mount Zion. It is described as a mountain, a city, a temple, and its past, present and future as God’s special dwelling-place.

Psalm 48 consists of three main parts. Verses 1-3 is a celebration of and praise to God who is the Great King of Mount Zion, a beautiful city that is the joy of all the earth. Verses 4-11 recall how the Lord defended her from enemies who attacked her, and how the city rejoices in the Lord’s preservation. Lastly, verses 12-14 is an invitation to consider how God has built Mount Zion’s strong defenses, and to tell the next generation about the God who guides and preserves his people forever.

How will Zion be the joy of all the earth, and how will God establish her forever? Our reading in 1 Peter 2 answers that God has laid in Zion a cornerstone, the most important stone in the building. This cornerstone is precious to those who believe. But to those who reject it, this cornerstone will be a stone of stumbling and offense.

In short, Psalm 48 is not mainly about the majesty and beauty of Mount Zion, but about the steadfast love, goodness and might of the Lord their God. Without God, the holy city will be destroyed. And this focus on God is vital because Mount Zion is a foretaste of God’s indestructible, eternal holy city, the Church, whose Cornerstone is Christ.

The Joy of All the Earth

Like many other Psalms of praise, Psalm 48 opens with a praise of God, “Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God!

Why is the LORD called “great”? In Psalm 96, we read two reasons why. First, he does “marvelous works,” especially in saving his people (2-3). Second, “he is to be feared above all gods” because he made the heavens (4-5). Only he can do these things, there is no other. This is why Psalm 145:3 also says, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”

In the Old Testament, the “city of our God,” “the holy mountain” and “Mount Zion” all refer to Jerusalem and its Temple. Mount Zion is the mountain on which the temple was built. God is not only praised in this temple, he actually dwells in it. It is his own possession, “the city of our God… the great King.” This city, this mountain, this temple is praised as “beautiful in elevation.” We know that there are higher mountains in Israel. While Mount Zion stands at 770 meters high, Mount Hermon in the north is over 2,200 meters tall. Why then is Mount Zion singled out as “beautiful in elevation”?

It is this: The Lord dwells in this city, mountain and temple. Just as he dwelt in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and in the Tabernacle with Israel, he dwelt at Mount Zion. He sits between the cherubim on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place. It is his presence that makes the mountain beautiful. It is in his glory that his people have joy.

But not only Israel has joy. In the end, Zion is “the joy of all the earth,” and God’s praise “reaches to the ends of the earth” (10). Psalm 22:27 also looks forward to that day when, “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.” Though not completed yet, this prophecy started unfolding during Jesus’ earthly ministry. Christ tasked his Apostles to preach the gospel to “the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Paul was commissioned by Christ to “bring salvation to the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47). And they did. By the time Paul wrote his letter to the Colossian church, the gospel “has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven” (Col 1:23).

So Gentile nations will be blessed with the gospel of Christ. The psalmist even locates Zion north of Jerusalem in a place called Zaphon, where the pagan god Baal sits in a pagan temple. Even Isaiah says, “the mount of assembly [is] in the far reaches of the north” (Isa 14:13). As the gospel spreads, the God of Israel will drive Baal out of his temple and sit on his throne in the north. And at the end of the age, when all of God’s elect has been sworn in as citizens of his kingdom, he will usher in “the joy of all the earth”!

Forever Established by God

Psalm 46 says that this city of God is peaceful, not in upheaval, so it rejoices because of its peace, security and prosperity. There is a river that flows through the city and provides for its needs. The people of God enjoy its fresh water for themselves, their animals and trees. God is the fortress of his city, well-protected and secure with its high walls and watchtowers. God is not only their fortress, but he himself dwells with them in the city. “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.” When dawn comes and their enemies start their attack, God fights for his people, and the city will not fail. This is why Psalm 48:3 also says, “Within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress.”

But in Psalm 46:4-6, the psalmist contrasts the safe, secure and well-provided city of God, against the city of man in uproar against God, “The nations rage, the kingdoms totter.” Mankind is in rebellion against God and Christ; they plot against the people of God. In some nations, Christians cannot teach that homosexuality is a violation of God’s law. In many parts of the world, to carry the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is a sure sentence of prison, torture and even death. The gospel of Christ is forbidden to be preached. They don’t want any mention of our God. They only want to worship their idol-gods.

So in Psalm 48:4-8, the psalmist recounts an event when foreign nations attacked God’s people Israel, “For behold, the kings assembled; they came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic; they took to flight. Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labor. By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish (Psa 48:4-7). Up to the writing of this psalm, there was one foreign invasion that fits this description most: that of King Sennacherib of Assyria in the 7th century B.C. in 2 Kings 18-19.

King Hezekiah of the southern kingdom of Judah rebelled against the Assyrian king. The prophet Isaiah assured Hezekiah that the Lord would deliver Judah from the Assyrians, but Hezekiah instead allied himself with Egypt, another pagan kingdom. Isaiah condemned this action, and just as he prophesied, the Assyrians responded by invading Judah, capturing and destroying most of the kingdom. He then assembled his huge army together from many nations and surrounded Jerusalem. In fear, Hezekiah repented of his unbelief and prayed for God’s help. Isaiah then assured Hezekiah that God will defend Jerusalem against the Assyrians, “I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David” (2 Kgs 19:33-34).

What follows is a remarkable fulfillment of the Lord’s promise. On that same night, the angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 of the great Assyrian horde! In the morning, the people saw all the dead bodies, without even a battle. King Sennacherib abandoned his war, and went home to Nineveh empty-handed. While he was worshiping his idol-god, his own two sons assassinated him. He came, he saw, but he did not conquer, because the Lord destroyed his army. These nations assembled together against Mount Zion, and when they saw it, they were astounded by its beauty, glittering as gold in the sunlight. But they also panicked, trembling as they ran away when they saw that the Lord God dwelt there in glory and might. And as the angel of the Lord struck them down, they were in extreme pain like a woman in labor. Like the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, an east wind sent by God destroyed them, like ships destroyed by a great storm at sea.

All Israelites have heard of the Lord’s great victory over the mighty Egyptian army in the Red Sea. In their worship services, they sang about it in psalms of praise and thanksgiving, “And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. Then they believed his words; they sang his praise” (Psa 106:11-12). Now, after seeing with their own eyes God’s victory over the Assyrians, the people sang in verse 8, “As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever.” The Lord is forever true to his word. His promise to David of an ever­lasting kingdom will never be broken by any mighty invading army.

His promise to us today still rings true, “On this rock” of faith in Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” he “will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:17-18). Not terrorism, not martyrdom, not persecution by legal means, not by false gospels, not by wolves pretend­ing to be sheep. Nothing shall separate you, as Christ’s church, from the love of God, because our church is founded on Christ. For 2,000 years, the kings of the earth have tried and failed. Even on the last day, wicked antichristian forces will attack the church in a vain attempt to destroy the church.

Then in verses 9-11, the psalmist encourages you to meditate on God’s unchanging love, whether in your home or every Lord’s Day assembly. To think of his marvelous works of creation and his grace and mercy in saving you from sin. To rejoice and be glad as worshipers in Zion because of his righteous authority. Then, on that last day, believers from all nations will gather in a great assembly in heaven, not like kings in rebellion, but as God’s kingdom to praise and give thanks to him for his judgments.

Tell About Her to the Next Generation

In this last section, verses 12-14, the psalmist invites worshipers to review the beauty and might of the holy city, “Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels.” This seems to be a fitting epilogue to the defeat of God’s enemies who besieged the city of God. Now that the invaders have been destroyed, they walk out of the city gates to find their enemies’ dead bodies. They are to consider how God has defended the city with her towers, ramparts and citadels. But the mighty fortress was not their only defense, because God himself who dwelt there was their sure rock and fortress. As long as the Lord was with them, they will not be moved.

Why is it important for the people of Mount Zion to know and believe that the Lord is their defense? Verses 13-14 tell us, “that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.” The church will remain and be established forever when the former generation teaches the coming generation who our God is, its creeds and confessions, its songs, its prayers, and most of all, the unchanging true Word of God.

Our connection with the past is also our connection with the future. Together, we believe the same doctrines, partake of the same bread and wine, sing the same songs, and pray the same prayers that our forefathers did. And when we teach them to our children, they will also do the same. We believe and teach the same mighty wonders that the Lord has done in the past ages. This is why the psalmist also says, “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done” (Psa 78:4).

When you as a church do not neglect this duty to the next generation, the psalmist assures us that this God will also be their God who will guide their lives forever and ever. If the church is preserved from the gates of death forever, surely the individual citizen of this kingdom will also live forever. This is why the writer of Hebrews exhorts you to be “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” To “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” And God’s promise is this, “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” (Heb 11:10, 16).

Beloved Christian Friends: Believe that this eternal city that you enter in every Lord’s Day assembly such as this is heaven itself, a meeting with “God, the judge of all… and [with] Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” You, the church, is the city of God, his holy mountain, Mount Zion, the city of the great King. Today and every Lord’s Day, “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb 12:22-24).

This Jesus was installed by God as the great King of the church, “I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill” (Psa 2:6). Jesus himself says he is this great King of kings and Lord of lords who is now building his house, the holy church. The Apostle Peter says that this spiritual house is made up of “living stones,” and who are these? You, the church here, and all true believers in all the world! (1 Pet 2:4-5)

But there is one Living Stone that is the most important Rock in this temple. Peter then quotes Isaiah 28:16, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation.” This was part of Isaiah’s prophecy against Israel’s “builders” because of their unbelief. The Lord promised a sure foundation in Zion, but they would reject him, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (1 Pet 2:7; Psa 118:22). So instead of a stone of help, it became for them “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (Isa 8:14).

Do you remember Jesus’ Parable of the Wicked Tenants in Matthew 21:33-46? A landowner planted a vineyard, but went away, leasing it to tenants. When the vineyard was ready for harvest, the master sent his servants to get his fruits, but the tenants beat some and even killed some. The master then sent his own son, but the tenants killed even his son. So finally, the master ordered those wicked tenants killed. Jesus used Psalm 118:22 as a prophecy about the Jews in his day who rejected him as the Corner­stone (v 42), the Son of God whom God the Father sent down from heaven to save his people from sin.

Therefore, this sure Foundation Stone, called a precious Cornerstone, is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, “a living stone rejected by men” (1 Pet 2:4). For ancient builders, the cornerstone is the most important stone in the building, placed in a corner to make the building straight and square. The honor of being that cornerstone was given by God to Christ. The Apostle makes it even clearer:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

And all who will believe and trust in him alone as the Founder of their salvation will never be put to shame, but receive honor (1 Pet 2:7).

Do you believe and trust with all your heart, soul, mind and strength this Jesus as the Cornerstone and Sure Foundation of your life? If you reject him as an offense to your worldly desires and pleasures, you will stumble to your eternal destruction. But if you believe in him, on that Day of Judgment, you will never be put to shame, and instead, receive honor and glory in the heavenly Mount Zion promised through the ages in God’s sure Word.